Scots dreaming of a white Christmas are most likely to enjoy snow in the west of the country this year, STV weather presenter Sean Batty has predicted.

Cold air is likely to move in from the north this weekend and bring wintry showers, starting early on Christmas Day.

Sean cautioned it is still too early in the week to make a definitive prediction, however.

"It's been looking a lot like Christmas in the last few weeks for most parts of the country, with some very low temperatures and snow," he said.

"Last week temperatures in Glasgow and Edinburgh fell to their lowest since the severe cold spell in 2010.

"Today we have extremely mild conditions and there is a wide range of possibilities, with computer forecast models diverging a fair bit."

He added: "There does seems to be more consensus that colder air will move in from the north and interestingly that looks to start early on Christmas Day.

"At this stage we're too far out to predict specific weather types for different parts of the country but I would say there's a good chance of colder air coming in and bringing showery conditions.

"It's very likely that these showers will be wintry over the hills on Christmas Day but also to lower levels at times, too. At the moment the highest chance of a white Christmas is in the west of the country."

Snow has fallen on Christmas Day 38 times in the last 54 years, according to the Met Office.

A single snowflake falling anywhere on the UK on December 25 is enough for it to be ruled a white Christmas by the forecaster.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes is offering 2/1 odds of a snow in Aberdeen - the best odds in the UK - and 5/2 in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Sean added: "I'm far from saying anywhere will be deep and crisp and even, but there is a possibility of some low-level locations getting some falling snow.

"Generally the weather is looking a lot more unsettled and potentially stormy at times during Christmas week and with so many people with travel plans at this time of year, it's worth staying tuned to the latest forecasts."